It began in a Shanghai college dormitory in 1946, where two young students formed a friendship that would quietly shape the future of one of America’s most powerful political families.

Decades later, that friendship reached from Beijing’s inner circle to the halls of Washington. Chinese state-owned shipyards built the vessels. Chinese banks helped finance them. The Chao family fortune grew, while Elaine Chao and Mitch McConnell rose to the highest levels of American power.

Was it simply business, family loyalty, and old connections—or something much more consequential?

This is the hidden story of the Chao–McConnell empire, and the bridge one family built between Beijing and Washington.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9oD59jRIg8

How One Family Built a Bridge Between Beijing and Washington

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

         RABID ATHEIST.

         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….

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On July 12, McConnell released a photo of himself in the hospital with his wife and a statement that he had been hospitalized for a fall.[255] The statement said he "won't be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet" but that he had "been able to move from hospital care to a rehabilitation center where I'll keep regaining my strength".[255][256] There was speculation that the photo was AI-generated, but experts analyzing the photo said there was no evidence of that.[257][258][259] McConnell's statement also said that although he had not broken any bones or experienced cardiac arrest, he had briefly become unconscious.[255] It also said he was being treated for a mild case of pneumonia.[255][260]A second photo that was determined to be fake was posted on Twitter on July 18. In it, he was apparently wearing the same red shirt as in the first. The second photo was not from McConnell's office.[261][262] As of July 21, two weeks had passed since anyone had claimed to have spoken to McConnell, and his office was continuing to refuse to describe his cognitive state, their expectations about his potential return to the Senate, or whether anyone had spoken with him recently.[263]

On July 27, McConnell's office released a health update that read: "I'm still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors' orders" and lamented that he could not attend the annual Fancy Farm Picnic. The press released ended with a statement from the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) that McConnell's childhood bout of polio was a complicating factor, and that "He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office."[264]

Since McConnell's health crisis began in mid-June, there has been increased attention to the possibility that someone else could serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027.[265] If he resigns, becomes clearly incapacitated or dies, it may be possible for Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to appoint a replacement or for a special election to be held.[266][265] The Constitution of Kentucky says that vacancies for statewide or large-region offices "shall be filled by appointment of the Governor".[267] But a Kentucky law passed in 2024 tries to remove this power, saying that the governor must call a special election rather than make an interim appointment. The law could face constitutional challenges involving the Constitution of Kentucky or the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[267][268][266]

The 2024 law also limits the period in which a special election may be held. The periods mandated by the law, if enforceable, mean that if McConnell's Senate seat is vacant before August 3, a special election may be called, whereas if the seat becomes vacant on or after August 3 and is not filled by an appointment, it will remain vacant until his term ends.[269]

A further complication is that, by law, if a special election is held, the governor must notify the sheriff of every county by mail at least 63 days before the election, and the sheriffs must notify the public 56 days before the election.[267][270]

The Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi hypothesized that the Republican Party wants to avoid a risky special election,[271] and The Guardian columnist Moira Donegan wrote that the lack of accountability about McConnell's health "demonstrates that our elected leaders do not serve the people, but serve only their own gratification."[272]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell?ysclid=ms7eorlend669738677